Share Your Collection!

[Raggydoll]

10 hours ago, Natural Mystic Guide said:

I do this.  Seriously, I just do not have the space to accomodate these big boxes.  Plus I prefer easier access to the decks.  I like having a bunch of decks in a basket.  Then I can just move my hand through them easily.  Some of these boxes are really nice too.   Out they go!

I’ve done this for years and never regretted it. I’m always working towards a life that is more simple and minimal, where the emphasis is on what matter the most to me. I also have a basket with my favorite decks next to my couch. It really is nice to be able to access them easily!  

[Sar]

On 12/29/2023 at 7:34 PM, Misterei said:

While my collection was never huge like @gregory ... I moved into a 620 sf house which is 57 sq meters for the Euro folks.

My collection, my books, an office, and a reading room to see clients ... all must fit into this tiny 4-room house.

Its happening with rounds of Death Cleaning and a daily "lets play tetris with my life" session. The last round of deck purging which got me down to 78 decks surprisingly felt easy and natural.

I need to follow your example here. Under 100, preferably under 50. For all systems.

[Misterei]

On 1/3/2024 at 1:56 AM, Sar said:

I need to follow your example here. Under 100, preferably under 50. For all systems.

I found seeing them all … all the time … made the last round of purging easier. The cards are in my bedroom and so I see them every night and morning. Day after day. Pretty soon it was just obvious which I never used, which I loved, etc.

 When they were on shelves in the big house … there were decks I never used or looked at … but when I would pull them to maybe get rid of them … it was a big painful decision for every deck. Ugh!

Your mileage may vary but it was surprising to me how different the experiences were.

Edited January 5, 2024 by Misterei

[Penthasilia]

I had so many at one point, over a thousand. Multiple moves and life/desires in general prompted me to gift most of them. I have a few left, and always find it interesting the things that have staying power. My old 70's RWS, my original Thoth, my old Etteilla, my TdM collection (probably using Pablo's deck the most out of those) and a couple of the old Italian decks. I'd say the only newer(?) decks that have stuck and that I still use are my Ironwing tarot, Maroon tarot, some Baba decks and the Japaridze. I have a lot more than that, but the ones that stay downstairs are the RWS, Thoth, Etteilla, Marsella, Vacchetta, Ironwing, Prague, Bohemian Gothic, and Japaridze. 9 consistent decks out of more than 1000, and I can honestly say I don't miss them and are happy they found good homes.

[Sar]

On 1/5/2024 at 6:21 AM, Misterei said:

I found seeing them all … all the time … made the last round of purging easier. The cards are in my bedroom and so I see them every night and morning. Day after day. Pretty soon it was just obvious which I never used, which I loved, etc.

 When they were on shelves in the big house … there were decks I never used or looked at … but when I would pull them to maybe get rid of them … it was a big painful decision for every deck. Ugh!

Your mileage may vary but it was surprising to me how different the experiences were.

I did get rid of a lot of decks after last comments. Now it is only the decks I keep for reference and the ones I use that is left. 

[DanielJUK]

Let's get this thread back to people sharing their wonderful collections of any size! Via text or photos 🙂

We have a thread already about "the right size" of your collection below and many threads going about decluttering and reducing collections....

 

[Tom]

I'm always excited when I get a new deck of Tarot or Oracle Cards for my collection since they add alternate viewpoints and ways of looking at the cards.  I collect cards just for the sheer beauty of them and have many I call my fine art decks.  I just looking at them gets me excited, whether it's the Baroque Tarot or the Teddy Bear Tarot.  I will improve my way of storing my cards in the future so I have better access to all my decks without a lot of hunting. 

[Natural Mystic Guide]

On 1/7/2024 at 10:11 AM, Penthasilia said:

decks that have stuck and that I still use are my Ironwing tarot,

... you are so fortunate to have the Ironwing Tarot.  I want one so badly.  It's an amazing deck.

[Penthasilia]

On 1/23/2024 at 11:50 PM, Natural Mystic Guide said:

... you are so fortunate to have the Ironwing Tarot.  I want one so badly.  It's an amazing deck.

 

This may be cringeworthy, but knowing that I love it and plan on keeping it, I went in and wrote in the card titles to make it easier to use. Definitely has made it mine for sure 😛

 

[Natural Mystic Guide]

3 hours ago, Penthasilia said:

I went in and wrote in the card titles to make it easier to use. Definitely has made it mine for sure

In my Tarot Universe, my decks are tools to be used.  I use my decks -- even the 'valuable' ones.  They want to be used.  So good for you!  If it makes it easier to work with the deck, you do what you need to do.  It would take a lot of use and study to become totally familiar with that deck.

[Rodney]

On 11/30/2023 at 11:23 AM, Rodney said:

I tried to take a panoramic photo earlier this year but could only capture about 300 degrees if memory serves.  Maybe over the holidays I'll take new pics.

I didn't forget. I got sick partway through the holidays and ended up spending more time on the couch than in the study.

 

Now I'm noodling over how I can rearrange things to get more shelf space back here because many shelves are two deep and a couple are even three deep with decks! Fortunately, I've learned how to use PivotTables, so have an inventory of everything that should be on each shelf even if I can't actually see it... Taking pics now doesn't make sense since things will definitely move around once I get more shelf space in here. Hopefully within the next couple of months.

On 12/16/2023 at 6:43 PM, Natural Mystic Guide said:

Really lovely!  I'm impressed that you have so many decks in their original boxes.  My use must just be so heavy that many of my boxes have ripped or fallen apart.  Many of my decks are in beautiful batik bags.  I can usually identify them by the color schemes of the bags.  These match the color schemes of the decks.  I just had a box seriously crap out on me yesterday and I've only had the deck for a couple of years.

 

So happy for you that this part of your life is coming together so nicely.  May you make a smooth and healthful transition in all respects.

I have a bunch of decks in bags, so many that I have no idea what deck is in what bag anymore. So I started using marking tags to identify the contents of the bags. This is a relatively recent picture. Except for the top row with the bags, most of the other cubbies have been moved around. (And of course there is a layer of spare decks behind the bags! USG in the top left, LoS in the middle, and various in the top right.)

 

 

On 12/29/2023 at 2:57 AM, gregory said:

I need a house so big that I could do that.

 

This will do nicely. Already has display cases and everything !

 

@gregory That cozy little place should be big enough to house BOTH our collections! We could even split the cost AND recoup expenses by doing tours! 😜 💜

 

On 12/29/2023 at 1:00 PM, Tom said:

I went through a brief phase where I discarded a box from a boxed set and just kept the deck and the manuals in a book shelf.  I regret this now, I like to keep the original boxes from the set now.  Fortunately it’s not a phase that lasted long—although I think some boxed sets have boxes that are much to large.  I like the new style higher deck box with the manual printed to card size and placed on top.  I think it protects the cards well and takes less space.

The old style Llewellyn kits with the one-size-fits-none white boxes were notorious for taking up more space than needed. I went through a phase of converting the exterior box into a custom box for its deck. I've done 16 and have another 13 to do. The decks are on one shelf, and their companion books are on a different shelf in a different bookcase. Here are a few examples. Of course, the old adage of measure twice, cut once comes into play. I didn't think to make two part boxes out of any of those decks. I'll do that with the last 13 though.

 

I've also made boxes from scratch for 12 decks and have more to do. (Too many projects, and not enough time!)

[RunningWild]

I started putting a few of mine in bags and labeling them.  I’m still basically living out of a suitcase and everything is stored away (in waterproof containers) so it doesn’t matter if I label them, I suppose.  I have only ever thrown out a few boxes and usually only because they fell apart.  

[Natural Mystic Guide]

3 hours ago, Rodney said:

We could even split the cost AND recoup expenses by doing tours!

I think that we should all chip in and create a Tarot Museum and offer readings!  Super fun.

[FindYourSovereignty]

6 hours ago, Rodney said:

The old style Llewellyn kits with the one-size-fits-none white boxes were notorious for taking up more space than needed. I went through a phase of converting the exterior box into a custom box for its deck

I purchased decks from Barbara Walker’s collection that arrived like this. Now I know why. Very cool. Thank you for sharing and including photos. 

[DanielJUK]

Looks gorgeous @Rodney 

[Sar]

This thread inspired me recently to get rid of decks, so this is what I am left with. Truly happy with it since these are all decks I use regularly. Around 50 Tarot decks, three Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Decks, 15 Lenormand decks and three Kipper decks. 

[Raggydoll]

1 hour ago, Sar said:

This thread inspired me recently to get rid of decks, so this is what I am left with. Truly happy with it since these are all decks I use regularly. Around 50 Tarot decks, three Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Decks, 15 Lenormand decks and three Kipper decks. 

(Rutiga kokböcker! Nostalgi! 😊) 

 

It’s a great feeling when your collection consists of nothing but favorites! 

[Sar]

2 hours ago, Raggydoll said:

(Rutiga kokböcker! Nostalgi! 😊) 

 

It’s a great feeling when your collection consists of nothing but favorites! 

I also have a passion for cookbooks and inherited a lot of them from my mama. Ccollection is down in size too. 

[Misterei]

@Sar congrats on your paring-down! I love reading other people's stories as it gives me courage on my own journey into authentic needs and wants vs. mindless maintaining the status quo.

Edited February 13, 2024 by Misterei

[Sar]

1 hour ago, Misterei said:

@Sar congrats on your paring-down! I love reading other people's stories as it gives me courage on my own journey into authentic needs and wants vs. mindless maintaining the status quo.

It was hard, I almost cried, but it had to be done.

[Misterei]

On 2/13/2024 at 12:28 PM, Sar said:

It was hard, I almost cried, but it had to be done.

On some of the burns I've been doing [photos, personal treasures, etc.] I literally had to get a bit drunk to find the courage. Good thing I quit the strict spiritual community that didn't allow alcohol haha ... I don't think I could have found the ovaries to do it without spiking my hot coco with Irish Cream!

[Sar]

12 hours ago, Misterei said:

On some of the burns I've been doing [photos, personal treasures, etc.] I literally had to get a bit drunk to find the courage. Good thing I quit the strict spiritual community that didn't allow alcohol haha ... I don't think I could have found the ovaries to do it without spiking my hot coco with Irish Cream!

Drinking anything would have the opposite effect on me in that situation, I would go dancing with all my decks, take them with me to bed and we would make each other so happy.

[joy]

Hello Everyone, can we please go back to the topic of this thread? Here we proudly share our collection, and we do not discuss how to down-size collections. If you like to discuss that, then please open a new thread. Thank you very much.

[PathWalker]

This is such an old photo of my collection, and although a few of the decks have changed, it remains pretty much like this - glass doors help me see what I've got, and some paraphernalia around, as well as all my sewing stuff and all my knitting stuff 

[Laura Borealis]

This is from a few years ago, it isn't up to date. There are a few more since then (and a couple of these have gone now). Several of these don't have boxes, so I took them out of the bags, sorry if they're hard to identify. See if you can find the one duplicate deck 😼 (Not including different editions of RWS and Thoth)

 

Also some of these are playing card decks and I'm not sure why I included them. The cat included herself!

 

Edited February 17, 2024 by Laura Borealis